US President Donald Trump did not seem to be aware of the $ 368 billion military pact of Australia with the United States when a journalist is asked.
When asked by a British reporter prior to a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the White House or the two leaders Aukus, Mr. Trump replied: “What does that mean?”
When the reporter described it as a three-way partnership for defense technology between the US, the UK and Australia, Trump agreed that it was on the agenda.
“We will discuss that. We still have a great relationship, and so do you, with Australia.
“Yes, we had a very good relationship with Australia.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously said that Aukus represented a 'new chapter' in the relationships of the countries and was the 'biggest mere investment in the defense capacity of Australia in our history'.
It is expected that the deal will cost from $ 268 billion to $ 368 billion over the next 30 years and extends to things like Quantum Computing, Hypersonic missiles and artificial intelligence.
Under the deal, Australia will invest US $ 3 billion in the US submarine industry in exchange for the possibility of buying various submarines in Virginia class nuclear-driven submarines.
US President Donald Trump is planning to discuss the Aukus deal in a meeting with the British Prime Minister
Aukus is expected to cost from $ 268 billion to $ 368 billion over the next 30 years
Trump claimed to have a 'great relationship' with Australia, because rate increases uncertainty
Although Joe Biden was in office at the time of signing the deal, many hoped that his size and strategic significance would have had a good favor with the second Trump administration.
When Australia confirmed his first payment of $ 800 million under the deal earlier this month, the American defense minister Pete Hegseeth said that Trump was both supportive and 'very conscious' of the deal.
In a recently phone call with Trump, Albanians considered the deal as one of a number of reasons why Australia should be exempt from a presented rate of 25 percent for all aluminum and steel export to the US.
Immediately after the call, a jubilant Prime Minister brought the press outside the House of Parliament to celebrate the success of the 'constructive' call.
“The relationship is in good condition,” he said.
When asked what Trump made of the Aukus deal, Albanian was reluctant to lift the veil.
'Well, I clearly indicated that there is a very positive support for the Aukus relationship.
“I don't intend to speak on behalf of President Trump. That is up to him.
“But clearly, I have indicated that there is a strong two -part support for Aukus in Australia and in the United States.”
Employment Minister Murray Watt rejected the concern about the US President who did not immediately know what Aukus was.
“I wouldn't make too much about a president with a very full plate who doesn't remember an acronym. I think we all go through things like that at different times, “he told ABC Radio on Friday.
“You will see that he could say very quickly about the power of the relationship with Australia and the fact that Aukus will be something that he will discuss with the British Prime Minister.”
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said that the Australian alliance with the US was still strong.
“Not everyone you know get the acronyms, and all the rest, but there is no doubt in my mind that the president strongly supports the alliance between our three countries and strongly supports Aukus,” he told Nine's Today program.
“He stated that earlier and the submarine … the national security of our country for the next century will support.”
